Heritage tour 

           India is a  paradise for the heritage tourist . With a five thousand years of recorded civilization, diverse cultures,  India has seen Invaders come, rule and go. In the annals of Indian History they have left heritage monuments and destinations galore. 

            You are welcome to this rich heritage. Perched in the Northeastern part of India is the land of seven sisters, namely Arunachal  Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Most of it is virgin territory not polluted by surges of visiting humanity. You are about to begin a heritage tour that is unique in many ways. An airborne visitor will find down here plains and river valleys quietly nestled in between parallel mountain ranged commanding different heights, a phenomenon attributed to a gradual process of evolution.

            For the jaded traveler of the conventional Indian tourist circuit, a  sojourn to Rosaville (Shillong- the Scotland of the East), a tour of famous Assam Tea country and Heritage Assamese Village  is a novel experience. In summer the moderate North East India's climate with rains is a welcome break from the scorching heat of the plains of India. As the tour unfolds, one will be captivated by the charms of a tea plantation with sweet smell of tea all over. A mystique Shillong morning is an oasis of tranquility . And Kaziranga National Park beacons to each vistor. Come experience North East India with 'Heritage North East'

 Tea Country

            Located in two of the oldest plantation of Assam, Sangsua and Gatoonga,15 minutes drive from  Jorhat airport is a world within world. Imagine yourself in a tea plantation on a spring scented evening seated on the verandah of your host's century old bungalow, watching the twilight melt unhurriedly into the night. Overhead, the stable sky is miraculously low and clear  and stubbed with myriad bits of glowing sapphire.

            The fireflies dance their aerial waltz in the air around you, blinking off and on like thousands of  lamp sending out incoherent message in esoteric cipher. The sound of silence at its majestic best. Allow this ambience to permeate your very being and wrap your soul in prophylactic silence. Couched within this deep quietude you will find your thoughts turning inward preparing your mind towards closer communion within this all pervasive silence you would be offered a glimpse of those elusive truths which you have been unconsciously searching for all through your life.

            The tea estates, spanning over hundreds of acres, offer you the spatial freedom to meander through them, watching the dappled sunlight filter through the shade trees and weave patterns of black and white on the neatly pruned tea bushes.

            The sights, sounds and smell of an Assam tea plantation are of a different kind than what normally confronts the tourist in India. No architectural marvels here, but certainly there are the planter's bungalow giving a taste of Raj and opulence. It offers a subtle ambience- a mental and sensory quietude- rarely to be experienced elsewhere. Planters will be your host sharing their opulence and joy as they will throw open their magnificent colonial style bungalows.

            You are surrounded by a veritable sea of verdure, stretching across all around as far as the eyes can see, with the tall shade trees standing watchful amongst them, like shepherds guarding them their flock of sheep. Each tea garden in Assam has its own history- often one of sweat and toil. Majority of the plantations were begun and built up through British ingenuity and enterprise.

            Spend the night in the huge bungalows of the tea estates, almost as old as the garden itself. Listen to the aged floor and walls creak their joints at night and the wind moan through the rafters.

 Rosaville

            Meghalaya is actually a bit of paradise that mistakenly remained on earth in the North Eastern tip of India. Drive to Shillong from the Guwahati airport, there is an air of expectancy in the journey.

            You begin your trip and soon hit the hills as the road follows a serpentine path, giving you the first impression of a unique quietness. The road winds its way through the tropical forests and with each bend of the road you get a glimpse of the variety of the flora and fauna that abound the state of Meghalaya.

            A flock of parrots may whoosh past your car, a lone orchid would hang in silent resplendence on a giant tree as you wind through the mist to the Rosaville, the grand old villa of the Barua family overlooking the Shillong plateau known as the "Scotland of the East".

            Shillong was the first choice of the British pioneers and it was their administrative seat from the beginning to the end as it remains the melting point of traditional culture and cosmopolitan styles. Rosaville is a classic example of that where you see the unique architect blended with style of orient and the east.

            This land, blessed with the most breathtaking scenery, an amazing variety of wildlife, magnificent ancient ruins and charming tribal folk, is any traveler's paradise. The refreshing mountain air, the whispering pines, the babbling streams, the hospitable atmosphere, the pleasant climate condition and exotic flora and fauna gives the tourist to Meghalaya, tremendous value for money.

            Nature in all its glory, limpid lakes, expansive rivers, unpolluted rushing streams breaking into waterfalls, twisting and  disappearing into the jungle. This is Meghalaya, nature's bounty. And in the afternoon you can drive out to the Shillong town to stroll, beside the awe inspiring waterfalls which is an abundance and if you are little bit adventurous you can explore beneath the earth by going into caving as Meghalaya houses the Asia's longest cave.

            But trip  to Meghalaya will remain incomplete if the Umiam lake is not visited. A majestic serene lake with surrounding sylvan hills, myriad emerald green and azure blue skies provide the setting for Umiam Lake, few kilometers away down the Shillong-Guwahati Road. Water Sports facilities are available. But main attraction remains the angling.

Heritage village

           Just 15 kilometers off Jorhat, here is the Heritage village waiting for you to show its vibrant life in its truest and most authentic colour. Walk down the narrow, small paddy fields and high bamboo groves, the Thengal Mansion is there waiting to host you amidst the typically Assamese Jalukonibari village.

        Come, see and get lost in this magnificent setting in the midst of this Upper Assam village with only nature as a company. Thengal mansion, which host the tourists with its Victorian  styled five bedrooms, was built in 1928 and saw the birth of the first Assamese daily newspaper.

        Located right in the Jalukonibari village, the Thengal Mansion is there to give answer to every question regarding Assam's culture, tradition, flora and fauna along with food habits. It is carefully located within the village to present an unpolluted authentic picture of the Assamese village for the tourist.

       And to have ringside view of Assamese village, the Heritage village offers you the most unique ride you have ever experienced-the bullock cart- still a mode of communication by a large chunk of Assamese villagers. It is slightly slower than the car you have left behind.

        Here you can put a full stop to the time and enjoy the nuances of an Assamese village, lend your hand in the weaving, see the agricultural activities or just watch the cows along with the cultivators returning home at the sunset from the field.

        The 72 year old mansion built during the Raj with Victorian touch may not be a match to the opulence of a five star resort but for a quiet private holiday or a small group of its own, nothing can match the Thengal Mansion

        Sip the morning cup of Assam tea and embrace the plethora of Orchids-Lady's Slipper, Blue vanda, Leopard Orchid, Foxtail Orchid and many others. Don't miss the bird of paradise or lipstick plant! In the spring you are bound to be woken up by the song of the Cuckoo.

        Come to the dining table, it is an experience as you will be served with the most authentic Assamese cuisine along with the customary oriental and continental foods. If you have patience, then you can get your own fish from the two large ponds in the campus.

        And that is not the end, there are cultural festivals too as per the seasons. There are the spring festival, Autumn festival and the Jorhat pony race, a legacy of the Raj.

     Not only Heritage village can be the base for your Kaziranga trip but also to the world's biggest river Island "Majuli".

 Do nothing

Come, see and get lost.
Do nothing !

Just relax and let your hair down or feel awed by the tea-pluckers at work. Admire the deftness of their fingers as they pluck the delicate two leave and a bud from which the "nectar of the gods " is made. Stroll on towards the tea factory. Savour the heady, warm aroma of fresh-backed tea leaves which permeate every nook and corner of the place.

        Saunter into the Heritage village and take a peek at the way they live. See their simplicity and feel their greatness, which is full of laughter and music, who take life as it comes and often break into a song. They are master weavers and you can have a taste of their colour depthness by a closer look at their products.

        And, when it is time to depart from your brief sojourn there would be no souvenirs or the mementos to carry back, unless the packet of choice tea picked up by you from the TEA BOUTIQUE be termed as one.

        Instead, what you would be carrying are recollections of the tea-plantation ambience-the beep, almost enacting hush of the nights at Rosaville, the starlit firmament and speckled darkness of the Heritage Village, the magpie of parrots setting onto a shade tree of Thengal Mansion, the clang and clatter of cows returning home, the lilt of Jhumur as belles dance around the evening bonfire, the graceful hospitality of tea-people and the unforgettable bullock cart drive- to nourish and sustain you amidst the din and bustle of urban activity.

 Wild Safari

        Once you are in Assam, not visiting Kaziranga is actually a sin as it is not only one of the world's most protected wildlife but also biggest concentration of the most endangered one horned rhinoceroses. There are 1700 of them in this world famous park and all the three heritage sites are well connected of this passage. In fact you can base yourself at the Tea country or in the Heritage Village as from both the places it is just two-hour drive to the wilds of Kaziranga.

        One can take a one-hour elephant trip or a drive around the park in an open jeep with the forest guards on your tow. However chance of seeing animals from the back of elephant are much more than the safaris as eighty percent of Kaziranga is covered with thick elephant grass.

        There is more than rhinos. The verdant foliage of trees and undergrowth several blooms of flower, wild fruit and the resplendent cascades of orchids make the air delicious. The chitter-chatter of small creatures, the unceasing screech of the cicadas, the music of bird calls in their extreme scale of notes orchestrate the mellifluous harmonies of the jungles as does the trumpeting of the elephants, the rutting or alarm call of deer, mooning of the thundering herbs of buffalo and gaur and from somewhere deep in the jungle his home and heaven, comes the grand and unforgettable deep throated roar of the Indian tiger.

 How to reach

        Guwahati and Jorhat airport is well connected by air. To Guwahati there are daily three flights each from New Delhi and Calcutta while to Jorhat four flights a week are operated by the Indian Airlines and Jet Airways from Calcutta. From Guwahati airport it is just two and half hour drive to Shillong while from the Jorhat airport it is just half an hour drive to the Tea Country as well as Heritage Village.

 Medical facilities

        There are excellent medical facilities in all the three site. Shillong being the capital of the state naturally has medical establishments while the other two site near are being covered by the medical facilities of Jorhat beside the very own tea estate medical facilities of Sangsua  and Gatoonga.

 Travel restrictions

There are none nowadays.